Austin-area districts distribute DNA sample kits, sparking controversy

Some Central Texas school districts this month began distributing kits for parents to collect samples of their children’s DNA to give law enforcement officials.

The kits, approved by the Legislature last year, are intended to help with missing child cases, though they have drawn concern and outrage from some parents and advocates who are linking them with identifying children killed in mass shootings. State and district officials insist the program has nothing to do with school massacres.

The kits contain an inkless fingerprint kit and storage for a DNA sample.

The state intends to distribute enough kits for every student from kindergarten through eighth grade to take one home, though parents and guardians aren’t required to use them.

The Austin district hasn’t received any kits from the state yet, but surrounding districts like Eanes and Round Rock have already begun distribution, officials said.

The districts serve only a distribution role and don’t know how many parents actually use the kits, said Molly May, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment at the Eanes district.

“They were just supposed to be for parents to do the fingerprinting samples and keep at home if anything happened,” May said.

This week, the kits became political with some gun control advocates decrying the effort as the wrong way to address school shootings.

In a Monday tweet, gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke rebuked his opponent Gov. Greg Abbott, while sharing a Houston Chronicle article about the DNA kits.

“This is Greg Abbott’s Texas,” O’Rourke said. “More school shootings than any other state on his watch. We will not allow this to be our future. We will keep our kids safe.”

Other groups like Guns Down America and Moms Demand Action also criticized the DNA collection effort.

The Legislature allocated $4.6 million for 2022 and $1.1 million for 2023 to distribute the kits, according to the agency.

“The kits are designed to assist law enforcement in locating and returning a missing or trafficked child and are not distributed as a means of victim identification following a mass casualty incident,” the education agency said in a statement.

This also isn’t the first time the state has distributed fingerprinting kits, according to the agency.

“While this is the first time school systems are involved in the distribution of kits, Texas has facilitated a statewide child ID program since 2006 through direct distribution to parents,” the agency said in a statement.

The program is voluntary and the information is kept at home, according to the agency.

“The kits are designed to provide parents and caretakers with some peace of mind in the event their child is one of over 500,000 who go missing each year and to ensure the necessary information is gathered as quickly as possible to find their missing child,” said Kenny Hansmire, executive director of the National Child ID Program, in a statement.

In a letter sent to Eanes parents about the program, the district noted it hopes families will participate in the program to keep students safe and healthy.

May said she hasn’t been getting many questions about the program.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas school districts distribute DNA sample kits for children